Ulster Fischer Championships took place on June 8th at Civil Service Pavilion

One of the most exciting competitions of the year involves chess with a difference. The initial position of the main pieces on the front row is set to a random position. This means that learned opening theories/lines are challenged.

As in any tournament I always get a little nervy over the number of players who register. Early on the week we had only 8 players and I was possibly going to play an all-play-all. But luckily we had some late entries and a playing field of some 12 players. The room was available and could handle 40 - so if ever this format of play gets more popular we are ready! I arrived early and setup the boards and the demo board on which to display the position for the round. Each round has a different starting position and we play with a reasonably relaxed time of 20mins + 5 secs increment. The positions are decided and printed off a few days before the tournament using a Random position generator. None of the player have prior knowledge of these and only see them at the start of each round - when I setup on the demoboard - read out the line of the main pieces and quickly check each board.

With all players having arrived I explained some of the rules - a printed copy of the rules was place on the wall. The main rule was castling. Where the pieces between final positions of the King and Rook need to be cleared and the positions of King and Castle after castling are the same as normal chess. So its important to remember which is Queen side and which is King side.

Rules:

Quick Rules for Fischerandom Chess

Fischerandom Chess is played with a normal chess board and pieces. All rules of Orthodox Chess apply except as otherwise noted.
The initial configuration of the chess pieces is determined randomly for White, and the black pieces are placed equal and opposite the white pieces. The piece placement is subject to the constraints:
1. the king is placed somewhere between the two rooks, and
2. the bishops are on opposite colors.
3. pawns are placed on each player's second rank as in Orthodox Chess.

There are 960 such configurations.

Castling, as in Orthodox chess, is an exceptional move involving both the King and Rook. Castling is a valid move under these circumstances:
1. Neither King nor Rook has moved.
2. The King is not in check before or after castling.
3. All squares between the castling King's initial and final squares (including the final square), and all of the squares between the castling Rook's initial and final squares (including the final square), must be vacant except for the King and Rook.
4. No square through which the King moves is under enemy attack.

The movement of the King and Rook during castling should be easily understood by players of Orthodox Chess:

When castling on the h-side (White's right side), the King ends on g1 (g8), and the rook on f1 (f8), just like the O-O move in Orthodox chess.
When castling on the a-side (White's left side), the King ends on c1 (c8), and the rook on d1 (d8), just like the O-O-O move in Orthodox chess.
Sometimes the King will not need to move; sometimes the Rook will not need to move. That's OK.

The object is to checkmate the opponent's King. Have fun!

Timetable for the day - some rounds did exceed their times but in the end the timetable was a good guide.

10:30 registration

11:00 Rd1

11:50 Rd2

12:40 Rd3

13:30 Lunch

14:10 Rd4

15:00 Rd5

15:50 Rd6

16:40 Rd7

17:30 Prize giving

rd1

Round 1

Results

No Name             Rtg  Total  Result   Name              Rtg  Total

 1 Mandar Tahmankar 2115 [0]      1:0    Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]  
 2 Shane Devine     1671 [0]      0:1    Edward Khanzharov 1828 [0]  
 3 Gerard McIlroy   1779 [0]      1:0    Sam Smylie        1650 [0]  
 4 Leah Worbey      1579 [0]     .5:.5   David Corr        1721 [0]  
 5 Robert Lavery    1717 [0]      1:0    Wenceslao Torres  1567 [0]  
 6 Patrick Clarke   1400 [0]      0:1    Jade Sandrey      1683 [0]

by Swiss Perfect (TM) www.swissperfect.com

We were fortunate to have the last 2 Ulster Fischer Champions, Mandar Tahamankar and Gerard McIlroy ( defending champion). So a good tough competition. The first round went to rating except Leah Worbey got a good draw against David Corr. A new player to our competitions Patrick Clarke played well loosing to Jade Sandrey.

rd2

Round 2

Results

No Name              Rtg  Total  Result   Name             Rtg  Total

 1 Jade Sandrey      1683 [1]     .5:.5   Mandar Tahmankar 2115 [1]  
 2 Edward Khanzharov 1828 [1]      0:1    Gerard McIlroy   1779 [1]  
 3 David Corr        1721 [.5]     0:1    Robert Lavery    1717 [1]  
 4 Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]      0:1    Leah Worbey      1579 [.5] 
 5 Wenceslao Torres  1567 [0]      0:1    Shane Devine     1671 [0]  
 6 Sam Smylie        1650 [0]      0:1    Patrick Clarke   1400 [0]

Round 2. and Jade scores an excellent draw against Mandar. Gerard gets a win against tough opponent Edward Khanzharov. Whilst Leah continues with a good win against Oisin Cinnsealach. New comer Patrick Clarke gets a good win against Sam Smylie.

rd3

Round 3

Results

No Name             Rtg  Total  Result   Name              Rtg  Total

 1 Gerard McIlroy   1779 [2]      0:1    Robert Lavery     1717 [2]  
 2 Leah Worbey      1579 [1.5]    0:1    Jade Sandrey      1683 [1.5]
 3 Mandar Tahmankar 2115 [1.5]    1:0    Edward Khanzharov 1828 [1]  
 4 Shane Devine     1671 [1]      0:1    Patrick Clarke    1400 [1]  
 5 Sam Smylie       1650 [0]      0:1    David Corr        1721 [.5] 
 6 Wenceslao Torres 1567 [0]      1:0    Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]

Robert Lavery wins against defending champion Gerard McIlroy and goes into the lead into the next round on full points. Patrick Clarke proves his skills and wins against Shane Devine. After round 3 we stopped for Lunch - there is an excellent Restaurant in the Bar.

rd4

Round 4

Results

No Name              Rtg  Total  Result   Name             Rtg  Total

 1 Robert Lavery     1717 [3]     .5:.5   Mandar Tahmankar 2115 [2.5]
 2 Jade Sandrey      1683 [2.5]   .5:.5   Gerard McIlroy   1779 [2]  
 3 Patrick Clarke    1400 [2]     .5:.5   Leah Worbey      1579 [1.5]
 4 David Corr        1721 [1.5]    0:1    Shane Devine     1671 [1]  
 5 Edward Khanzharov 1828 [1]      1:0    Wenceslao Torres 1567 [1]  
 6 Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]      0:1    Sam Smylie       1650 [0]

Robert maintains the lead with a good draw against Mandar. Whilst Jade put paid to Gerards challenge with a good draw. The top 3 tables draw.

rd5

Round 5

Results

No Name             Rtg  Total  Result   Name              Rtg  Total

 1 Robert Lavery    1717 [3.5]    1:0    Jade Sandrey      1683 [3]  
 2 Mandar Tahmankar 2115 [3]      1:0    Patrick Clarke    1400 [2.5]
 3 Gerard McIlroy   1779 [2.5]    1:0    David Corr        1721 [1.5]
 4 Sam Smylie       1650 [1]      1:0    Edward Khanzharov 1828 [2]  
 5 Leah Worbey      1579 [2]      1:0    Wenceslao Torres  1567 [1]  
 6 Shane Devine     1671 [2]      1:0    Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]

Two rounds left will Robert maintain the lead and become this years champion? He starts by beating Jade. Mandar 1/2 point behind chases with a win over Patrick. Edward is having a tough competition, Sam Smylie getting a win. Leah continues todo well with a win over Wenceslao.

rd6

Round 6

Results

No Name             Rtg  Total  Result   Name              Rtg  Total

 1 Leah Worbey      1579 [3]     .5:.5   Robert Lavery     1717 [4.5]
 2 Gerard McIlroy   1779 [3.5]   .5:.5   Mandar Tahmankar  2115 [4]  
 3 Jade Sandrey     1683 [3]      1:0    Shane Devine      1671 [3]  
 4 Patrick Clarke   1400 [2.5]   .5:.5   Edward Khanzharov 1828 [2]  
 5 Wenceslao Torres 1567 [1]      0:1    Sam Smylie        1650 [2]  
 6 David Corr       1721 [1.5]    1:0    Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]

Draws on 3 boards meaning the top positions change little. Jade gets 4 points and moves within a point of the leader Robert Lavery on 5 points. Patrick again proves his skills and shows he is a player to watch with a draw against Edward. The weather poured rain and we could hear it on the roof. Lovely to be playing chess and watching pouring rain outside! adds to the atmosphere.

rd7

Round 7

Results

No Name              Rtg  Total  Result   Name           Rtg  Total

 1 Robert Lavery     1717 [5]      1:0    Patrick Clarke 1400 [3]  
 2 Mandar Tahmankar  2115 [4.5]    1:0    Leah Worbey    1579 [3.5]
 3 Wenceslao Torres  1567 [1]      0:1    Gerard McIlroy 1779 [4]  
 4 Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 [0]      0:1    Jade Sandrey   1683 [4]  
 5 Shane Devine      1671 [3]      1:0    Sam Smylie     1650 [3]  
 6 Edward Khanzharov 1828 [2.5]    1:0    David Corr     1721 [2.5]

The final round. Mandar is still within a shout of victory. Robert would need to loose or draw - but wins against Patrick and becomes this years Ulster Champion.

Standings

Place Name              Loc  Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

  1   Robert Lavery     1717 6        19.0  25.5   25.0
  2   Mandar Tahmankar  2115 5.5      20.0  26.0   22.0
 3-4  Jade Sandrey      1683 5        21.0  27.0   20.0
      Gerard McIlroy    1779 5        19.5  26.5   20.0
  5   Shane Devine      1671 4        13.0  18.0   14.0
 6-7  Edward Khanzharov 1828 3.5      17.5  24.0   13.0
      Leah Worbey       1579 3.5      17.0  23.0   15.5
 8-9  Patrick Clarke    1400 3        21.5  30.5   14.0
      Sam Smylie        1650 3        14.0  19.0    9.0
 10   David Corr        1721 2.5      19.0  25.0   10.5
 11   Wenceslao Torres  1567 1        19.0  25.0    5.0
12-13 Oisin Cinnsealach 1673 0        18.0  24.5    0.0
      Mark Newman       1742 0         0.0   0.0    0.0